Cruise Lines Grow, Boost Promotion

Cruise lines have a mighty big selling job to do this year, especially in the Caribbean where six new or rebuilt ships in a 10-month span will add 5,000 berths to the fleet glut.

You might get the feeling that vacationers are standing in line to take a cruise with all this added capacity. However, less than 5 percent of vacationing Americans have ever taken a cruise. The cruise lines are working hard to change this by promoting cruises as an idyllic vacation and by offering would-be passengers deals.

For travelers looking for a vacation at sea, the outlook is encouraging because virtually every line offers incentives or discounts. For example:

Princess Cruises of Love Boat fame is offering a discount of $250 a person off the regular fare on several Panama Canal sailings.

Sitmar Cruises provides free airfare plus up to $250 in savings per couple for booking six months in advance and an $800-a-couple discount on trans-canal and Mexico sailings.

Home Lines is promoting $300 off on nine- to 14-day cruises and $500 off on 16-day cruises in the Caribbean.

Premier Cruise Lines, billed as the official cruise line of Walt Disney World, gives away a ``full three-day Walt Disney World Vacation`` with its four-night cruise to the Bahamas.

There is no doubt that a cruise vacation is one of the best buys on the market today. Most cruise lines provide free round-trip airfare to the port as well as transfers to and from the ship. The only extras are bar bills, tips, shopping and shore excursions if you choose to buy a tour, rather than devise your own.

Cruise Lines International Association, a promotional organization representing 25 lines with more than 80 ships, has launched a campaign to push cruising. This year the group expects to educate 12,000 travel agents throughout the country with training seminars.

It also publishes a booklet, Answers to the Most Asked Questions About Cruises, available by writing to CLIA, 17 Battery Place, Suite 631, New York, N.Y. 10004. Enclose an addressed, stamped, business-size envelope.

The most recent company to jump into the consumer market is The Cruise Line Inc., based in Miami. The firm is involved in ``creative cruise marketing, packaging and market development.``

Cruise Line started as a wholesale company selling cruises to about 3,000 travel agents nationally in June 1983, explained Lawrence Fishkin, the firm`s president.

But, he acknowledged, many travel agents in the smaller market areas do not know how to sell cruises. ``They don`t know the ships, the lines or the terminology.``

Fishkin said Cruise Line started selling to the public about six months ago through direct advertising. His firm also has helped charitable groups arrange fund-raising cruises.

What Cruise Line does is buy blocks of space on certain lines. By putting deposits on the space up front, giving cruise lines a better cash flow, Fishkin is able to obtain ``group rates that can be 50 percent off, sometimes more.`` It`s the same principle that tour operators use when they purchase blocks of hotel rooms. When consumers buy package tours, they get their hotel rooms for much less than the rack rate, the price consumers pay when they walk in off the street. Fishkin applies the same principle. The toll-free number is (800) 327-3021.

Another company that specializes in cruising at a discount is South Florida Cruises, 2069 N. University Drive, Fort Lauderdale 33322; phone 742-9999, or, outside the local calling area, (800) 327-SHIP.

Since the Achille Lauro hijacking in the eastern Mediterranean last fall, cruise lines have had to reappraise their insular worlds.

But, Fishkin said, cruising will continue to grow in popularity.

``A factor for the future is to have a stress-free vacation. As the `80s continue into the `90s, a stress-free environment will become more prominent, in my opinion. This factor will draw more people to cruises.``